STUDENT REPORT FALL 2004: STATE OF THE COLLEGE


 Exhaust All Options! We’re Not Exhausted.
Let’s not let Wells be a well kept secret anymore

Save us for what we are. . .

Save Our Sisterhood



The following report has been compiled by a group of Wells College students dedicated to actively looking into the future of Wells. We acknowledge that Wells is facing some difficult financial situations; however, this problem is not unique to Wells. Many colleges across the country, both single-sex and coeducational, have been experiencing financial woes. In this report we seek to present some problems we currently see with Wells College, both in its decision to go coed and the way which the college has been run. Wells College was founded in 1868 as an institution of higher education, dedicated to women. There is little doubt about the value and quality of a single sex education for a woman. The data speaks for itself:

Studies have found that, by attending women's colleges, women:

  1. Participate more fully in and out of class.
  2. Are more successful in careers; that is, they tend to hold higher positions, are happier, and earn more money.
  3. Constitute more than 20% of women in Congress, and 30% of a Business Week list of rising women stars in Corporate America, yet only represent 2% of all female college graduates.
  4. Have a higher percentage of majors in economics, math and life science today than men at coeducational colleges.
  5. Have more opportunities to hold leadership positions and are able to observe women functioning in top jobs (90% of the presidents and 55% of the faculty are women).
  6. Report greater satisfaction than their coed counterparts with their college experience in almost all measures - academically, developmentally, and personally.
  7. Continue toward doctorates in math, science and engineering in disproportionately large numbers.
  8. Are three times more likely to earn a baccalaureate degree in economics and one and one-half times more likely to earn baccalaureates degrees in life sciences, physical sciences and mathematics than at a coeducational institution.
  9. Develop measurably higher levels of self-esteem than other achieving women in coeducational institutions. After two years in coeducational institutions, women have been shown to have lower levels of self-esteem than when they entered college.
  10. Score higher on standardized achievement tests.
  11. Tend to choose traditionally male disciplines, like the sciences, as their academic majors, in greater numbers.
  12. Are more likely to graduate.
  13. Tend to be more involved in philanthropic activities after college.
(From “Benefit’s of Women’s Colleges” found on the Women’s College Coalition website)

This report is designed as a guide to those unfamiliar with the arguments of the students. It is split into 3 sections “What They Say / What We Say,” “Problems at the College,” “Suggestion for the Future.

The first section examines the college’s arguments for why changes need to be made, focusing on the coed issue and in the second part of the first section the school’s reasons are critiqued. The second section discusses what we see to be problems at Wells College. As to not just complain without solutions offered, the last section provides ideas. Section three presents student generated suggestions. We hope that it will be useful for both people directly involved with the Wells community and others seeking to understand why so many of the students are angry at the events as of late.


Section 1: What They Say / What We Say

A. The college is having financial issues
 The college reports that over the past few years it has been depending too much on its endowment. They say that they have to do this because they must spend too much money on each student, since the cost of tuition only covers half the actual cost it takes to educate them.

What We Say:

According to the college history, the Wells College endowment had dwindled to “almost nothing” in 1975, but by 1980 it was $7,000,000, and in 1987 it stood at $21,000,000. According to IRS filings, the endowment had grown to $48,000,000 in 1998 and stood at $54,000,000 in 2003. The endowment is not evaporating, despite years of “deficit” spending.

The College is not in debt. It does not owe interest on outstanding loans. It has no deficit carrying over from year to year which must be paid down. The college’s “deficit” arises because it spends more of its endowment income than its current administration would like, but, nevertheless, the endowment continues to significantly grow over time. While this deficit might discourage corporate donors, more than 90% of Wells’ donations come from individuals. How many of these donations, and what percent of the endowment, is dedicated specifically to the education of women? Many alumnae have spoken out loudly against the notion of Wells going coed, this will quite likely turn into a withdrawal of funds from the college resulting in even less money coming in.

There also is no guarantee that going coed will be a profitable venture. We have been privy to no research that demonstrates that going coed will save Wells financially.

The Sustainable Wells Action Team, assembled by President Ryerson proclaimed that “The college is in need of a significant revenue generating idea that does not detract from the reputation, prestige, and image of Wells.” (SWAT minutes, 4/25/03). Going coed would “detract from the reputation, prestige, and image of Wells.” If SWAT was committed to the “reputation, prestige, and image of Wells” then, there is no reason for it not to be committed to these same things now. These things are still vital to Wells’ identity.

B. The College needs improvement with Applications, Enrollment and Retention:
 What We Say:
Wells needs to drastically improve the marketing of the college. Using the same tired methods of recruitment and materials about the college without great success for several years is a strong indication that Admissions is in dire need of change. For years, students at Wells have complained about being “lied” to by Admissions. Tour Guides report being instructed to perpetuate lies. One strong example of this is up until a note sent out by the Director of Admissions at the very end of September, students were still under instruction, according to the Admissions handbook, to give the one word answer of “No” for the question, “Is Wells going coed?” (Tour Guide Handbook, 2004). Students also complain about being misinformed about access to Cornell, a new science building, the viability of certain major/minors/cross-registrations and much more.

C. A lack of interest in women’s colleges
 What We Say:
There are 2487 4-year institutions in the United States (The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac 2003-2004) and about 60 4-year Women’s Colleges. This means that though Women’s Colleges only make up only 2.4% of colleges, but still manage to attract 3% of women as prospective students. In 2004, 1,419,007 college-bound seniors took the SATs. This is the highest number ever, and 53% of them were female. This is also an increase. Out of that 53%, 3% of them is over 22,500. In order to have 125 students in each class in Wells (a total of 500 students), we would only need to reach 0.5% of all of the students that consider women’s colleges. By putting Wells into competition with thousands of coed schools, instead of dozens of women’s schools, the Trustees risk complete failure in the marketplace.

D. Coed is the thing to do
 What We Say:
Our options are far from exhausted. There are initiatives which have recently been put into effect (possibility of a grad program, expanding our Study Abroad, expanding Book Arts, etc) which have not been given a chance to increase revenue at all. In addition to these recent suggests, there is over 20 years of documents compiled by consulting firms shows many option that were suggested to Wells, but not pursued.

Again, better marketing is an option which has not been vigorously pursued, and therefore has not been exhausted.

The Board of Trustees hired Easton Consultants of Stamford to advise on the transition to coeducation. The representative client list on its website shows the firm has no experience whatsoever with educational institutions. It serves banks, insurance accompanies, credit card firms and utilities. Not one nonprofit organization is included on its list. A company that knows what’s best for IBM, Citibank and MasterCard, will not likely understand what’s best for the need of an institution that has more at stake that simply maximizing our profit. The $250,000 report from Easton Consultants seems to be a huge waste of money, considering many firms that specialize in higher education were passed over.

On top of that, we have seen no research to say that throwing away a 136 year tradition of a single-sex institution will guarantee our college will be financially saved.


Section 2: Problems at the College

Poor marketing
Clearly, enrollment is a problem. Why hasn’t it been addressed at the source: the admissions staff? Academic search firms now specialize in matching professional, experienced admissions directors with the needs of a particular school. Yet nothing has been done to provide the Wells admissions office with a nationally qualified director. Without restructuring and re-staffing the admissions office, Wells very likely will face the same enrollment problems it has now after adopting coeducation.

The New Science Building
This is a factor that very much stands out in the minds of thesising science majors. They were promised as prospective students that they would be thesising in a new science building. Despite this, ground has not even been broken for the new science building. Fundraising for the building has also been ceased.

Lack of Financial aid/scholarships
Many potential Wells students are unable to come to Wells because they receive inadequate funding.

Poor Money management
Community members have reported mismanagement of funds by college management. There was $600,000 allegedly transferred out of the science building fund in order to pad another account that was supposedly made up of donations. The was done to create the illusion of a successful fundraising campaign. The money was transferred back, but there have been no known repercussions for the mishandling of funds or for the lies told about the amount of funds raised.

Methods of research and development
Again and again the college makes rash decision without effective research or input from the community. By far the most egregious demonstration of this was The Master Plan, revealed in 2000 by President Ryerson. The plan called for the destruction of several historical and even award-winning buildings on campus and for others to be relocated. The plan was billed as a rejuvenation effort and something that would enhance the close community on the campus. Instead, there was an uproar of people furious at the proposed destruction of the campus. A petition circulated amongst alumnae and many even said they would withdraw support. Despite this, a lot of money was spent marketing based on this plan to future students. This ridiculous idea was supposed to revitalize the college. The plan did actually include the new science building – the one good part of the plan, which never did materialize. Shortly after the plan faded from discussion, the model of it quietly disappeared from the library.

Poor leadership
President Ryerson came to power in during a snowstorm many years ago. She came without academic credentials, neither in terms of degrees nor experience. She was appointed after her predecessor suddenly resigned. There was no national search before she was selected by the Board of Trustees and has since then not proven to the community that with no previous experience she is capable heading a college. She is a lovely woman and an excellent politician, but what Wells needs is a leader.

The decision making process
Currently, when big decisions are made, they are made behind closed doors with only the Board of Trustees being made privy to vital information. Information is not always shared with students, staff, faculty and the administrative staff. This creates a community of fear and distrust.

No childcare for WILL students
There is no formal childcare available for WILL students. The makes it difficult for the group in our community who make up a large amount of our student population.

Website
Many potential college students spend hours and days browsing colleges on the internet. With thousands of options available our website must be striking. If the website doesn’t let the students know that Wells is a spectacular place within a few seconds, Wells might not even get a second glance.

Lack of Strategic plan
Though a strategic planning committee was recently formed, the school is currently operating without a plan.

Problems with coed:
Equal education
If Wells went coed and maintained a “women’s focus” as has been suggested, this would not be fair to the men that attended the college.

Title IX issues
Depending on the number of men that enrolled at Wells, women’s team in the athletic department may have to be cut, since Title IX calls for equal opportunities for men and women in sports.

Mission statement
Fundamentally, Wells going coed would violate our 136 year old mission statement which begins “The mission of Wells College is to educate women to think critically, reason wisely, and act humanely as they cultivate meaningful lives.”

Traditions
Wells prides itself on traditions. Though many men may chose to participate in some activities other might be more difficult to continue with male students present. These include such things as the Odd/Even game and seniors jumping in the lake in their lingerie after convocation which may have to greatly change to be inclusive of men.

Lower quality of students
Though Wells does not have a huge number of applicants, this has been explained as “self-selection.” The people that come to Wells are intelligent young women that know they want to attend a small, lively women’s college. The ones we do have boast impressive GPAs and standardized test scores. This allows us to have impressive statistics about incoming classes, though numbers are small. If Wells went coed, students would self-elect to go somewhere else. This would completely change our audience since many of the people that currently come to Wells come for the single-sex experience.

Section 3: Suggestion we have

Make it free to apply
Wells students know that getting a fee waiver slip to give to a friend or family member is very simple. The Admissions department has programs to give out the no-fee slips to students to give to whomever they desire. Why not expand this option and remove the fee from the application process. This would likely increase the number of applicants to Wells, especially through the Common Application. Even if someone wasn’t seriously considering Wells at first, getting accepted and coming to campus could very well convince them otherwise.

Better marketing
As stated above, Wells has not been marketing itself effectively. There needs to be big changes in how Wells reaches prospective students. Students from the area report that people in their hometowns often have not even heard of Wells. Wells needs to saturate the surrounding area, and beyond. The Admission department has not been able to do their job properly and changes need to be made.

Improve facilities including continuing work on new science building
While the Board seems willing to expend funds on well-needed improvements on campus to prepare it for men, many areas of campus have been overlooked. Zabriskie is an old and out-of-date structure. The science department is very strong at Wells and needs a facility to match.

Financial aid/scholarships
Better funding is needed to make attending Wells financially feasible for more students. More need and merit-based scholarships would open up the possibility of attending Wells to more students. Connection should be made with institutions with historic connections to Wells. Why is there no Wells Fargo or American Express scholarship to Wells?

Hire a consulting/marketing firm that specializes in higher education
Though, for some unknown reason, the Board of Trustees decided to hire Easton Consultants to examine the coed issue, there are many firms that specialize in higher education. One of these would be must more suited to understanding the needs of our institution. Through a community selection process a new firm should be hired to examine the state of Wells College.

New leadership or leadership structure
Wells needs strong leadership. An expert and experienced person is needed to guide the college to stability. Serious consideration must be given to the future leadership of Wells College.

Share information
Wells needs to develop and implement a new policy of information sharing throughout the campus. If research is done on the school, unless there is a very pressing reason why it should not be shared, the information should be readily available to all members of the Wells community. When the community knows that information is being kept from them, they become disillusioned and oppressed. This may lead to the loss of trust and faith in the community. Conversely, sharing information would build community and make everyone feel included in the decision making process.

Develop childcare
The college has yet to create a campus daycare program to accommodate the needs of students, staff and faculty with children. There are many spaces on campus which could house a daycare facility and many students to help with staffing. There needs to be formal action taken to develop such a facility. Appropriate daycare may make Wells an option for women that otherwise could not attend the college.

WILL Housing
Look into developing on campus housing for WILL students. WILL students have different needs that traditionally aged students. Special consideration must be made for mothers.

Website
The college website needs a complete overhaul. The site needs to draw people in. For most people, the website will be all they see of Wells College. If the site is not the best it can possibly be we may be losing potential students because of such an easily amendable problem.

Strategic plan
Wells needs to develop a functional and community approved strategic plan. A committee on this issue has recently been convened, but Wells has gone too long without one and this should be a top priority.

SWAT Proposals
We encourage many of the ideas presented by SWAT. Expanding the Book Arts Center, study abroad and especially the MA in Education program are all ideas that the students are extremely excited about.

MA program(s), maybe MFA in book arts
In addition to the MA in Education, we also encourage the college to look at expanding some of our great departments even further, through more masters programs. English, psychology, biology and chemistry, among others, are very strong and popular department. These could be expanded through MA programs. An MFA in Book Arts could also be very beneficial since the program would be a national rarity. We especially support this solution since single-sex colleges with coed graduate programs tend to have larger undergraduate enrollments than undergraduate only schools (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System).


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